


What do you remember?

by justinsbuzz



Series: The end... [14]
Category: Steven Universe (Cartoon)
Genre: Angst, Crack, Fluff, Gen, Temporary Amnesia, by brain, definitely not slice of life, is this the end?, my fingers, nope - Freeform, really tired, too many characters to list - Freeform
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-09-07
Updated: 2020-09-07
Packaged: 2021-03-07 06:28:34
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 4
Words: 10,172
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26348623
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/justinsbuzz/pseuds/justinsbuzz
Summary: She has emerged. And now, It's up to Steven and his friends to bring everything full circle.
Relationships: Connie Maheswaran & Steven Universe, Rose Quartz/Greg Universe
Series: The end... [14]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1509437
Comments: 28
Kudos: 17





	1. Emerging from the past

**Author's Note:**

> Technically not as long as the previous one, but it's pretty damn close.

What do you remember?

Steven’s body felt light again. Weightless. And just like how it felt weightless before, he was jolted awake. The difference being that this time, he wasn’t in a bathtub, but in Garnet's arms, and with a tube inserted into his mouth. A strange, cool liquid was slowly seeping down his throat before he was jolted upwards. As he did, he performed a spit take to anything in front of him, which nearly meant that Priyanka would have regretted not bringing a poncho if it were not for her quick reflexes. Steven’s quick jolt forward had caused his muscles to ache even more.

“What… Priya… what happened?” Steven groaned.

“Well, remember what happened back at the hospital a week ago?” Priyanka asked, looking worried.

“You mean when I was glowing and growing?” Steven asked before looking down at his tattered shirt and jeans. “Oh jeez…”

“Don’t worry, buddy.” Jasper said as she opened the duffle bag and pulled out a grocery bag with a spare pair of clothing. Priyanka and Garnet looked at Jasper with mild suspicion. “What? I had to plan for anything that could happen? Even if it meant Steven turning into a giant and having his clothing destroyed.”

“What… what else did you plan for?” Garnet asked as she looked at the opening of the bag to see a snorkel, a cowbell, and an inflatable raft. Jasper quickly closed the bag as fast as she could.

“I… other things.” Jasper spat out while looking guilty. “Amethyst… told me about some of the other adventures he’s been on. And… I want to make up for the things I’ve done.”

“Well, you’re off to a good start, Jasper.” Steven groaned as he got up to open the bag of clothes. “Thank you.”

“Eh, happy to help.” Jasper replied.

While changing out of most of his tattered clothes as fast as his ached body could, he couldn’t help but notice his gem. Or lack-there-of. Instead, there was no belly button to speak of, but a dark bruise. Steven had wanted to touch the area where his gem was, but restrained out of fear. To him, it would have felt unnatural. He had wanted to get rid of it for months, feeling as though it was causing him pain and agony. But now, he felt empty. Something that had enveloped him from the inside, gone. He began to have doubts about all of this. But then, the words ‘pop like a meat balloon’ came to mind, and now all he can do is just try to move forward. As he was changing, Garnet, Priyanka, and Jasper stood around with their backs facing him to help give him a wall of privacy.

“Okay. Finished.” Steven stated. Garnet and Jasper turned to help steady him, which had caused them both to stop and stare at each other.

“I don’t think he needs you help for now, Jasper.” Garnet said, with a hint of annoyance in her tone.

“He just had his gem pulled out. He needs all the help he can get.” Jasper tried to reason with Garnet.

“I’m all the help he needs.” Garnet said through gritted teeth.

“Can you two please not argue right now?” Steven asked, also through gritted teeth, as he struggled to stand. But as he finally got to his feet, he had suddenly realized one other thing he was missing, apart from his sandals, which had also been destroyed. “Wait… I… I’m not in pain.”

“Wait, so the water worked?” Jasper asked in anticipation.

“Well, kind of. But I mean, when you two were bickering, I wasn’t in any pain. I usually would be when I have to solve disputes.” Steven said with a smile. “But now, I’m just mildly annoyed, but not in pain!”

“That’s great!” Jasper said with a brief smile, which switched to an expression of uncertainty. “Well, for the most part.”

Garnet grumbled briefly.

“Please though. We have more important matters on our hands.” Steven asked for peace while looking around. “Where… where’s Pink Diamond? Where’s… my mom?”

Steven spotted the Diamonds crouched on the ground, staring at a pinkish-red diamond that was sitting on the ground. Steven swore he thought he saw the silhouette of Pink Diamond before he passed out. But all there was, was a stone. But before he could attempt to move forward, he heard something coming from the crater nearby. A soft moaning sound, and the sound of shifting rocks. As he looked over, he saw a pink, slender hand. And then, he saw her. Pink Pearl.

“Uh, Spinel?!” Steven called out, looking for Spinel, who was sitting on Yellow Diamond's shoulder. “You missed one!”

Spinel turned to look at the lone survivor of her attack.

“Jeez, my swing has apparently gotten rusty.” Spinel muttered with annoyance. “Welp, Not one to do something halfway!”

As Spinel literally sprung from the back of Yellow Diamond’s shoulder, who wasn’t paying any attention, Pink Pearl held her hands up.

“WAIT! DON’T! PLEASE!” Pink Pearl cried out loud. “I SURRENDER!”

“Spinel, no!” Steven yelled with a hoarse voice. “Stop!”

Spinel, heading Steven’s plea, turned her arms into wings, and flew past Pink Pearl, and fluttered downward.

“Did you not hear about how I don’t like to leave things unfinished, dude!?” Spinel complained loudly enough to gain the attention of Blue Diamond.

“What’s all of this co-” Blue Diamond began to speak before seeing Pink Pearl, alive and not in her gem form. “You!”

Blue Diamond stomped towards Pink Pearl before being stopped by Spinel’s enlarged hand, with the embossed word ‘stop’ written on it.

“Spinel?” Blue Diamond said, sounding surprised. “What’s the meaning of this? You never leave anything unfinished!”

“I know! I know.” Spinel spoke, agreeing with Blue Diamond. “But Steven said no, because Pink Pearl said no. and I didn’t do it cause… Steven. Am I right?”

“Yeah… I know.” Blue Diamond said with a sigh. “Steven, you do know that moment’s earlier, she nearly attempted to kill you, right?”

“I know, but… she did surrender.” Steven spoke apprehensively while shrugging.

Blue Diamond sighed and shook her head.

“You still have heart Steven. But what are we going to do about… her?” Blue Diamond spoke, her eyes staring angrily at Pink Pearl. Steven slowly limped his way forward before a head swooped under his left arm. The smell of lavender. Connie.

“I got you, Biscuit.” Connie said, reassuringly. Her eyes were red, and stained with tears.

“You okay?” Asked Steven.

“Said the person who just got their gem ripped from their belly. We’ll talk later.” Connie said, mustering a smile as she helped Steven over to the crater to talk to Pink Pearl, who looked weak and frail.

“Okay, P.P., Why did you try to attack us?” Steven asked sternly. “Why do you have so much beef with me? What did I do to you?!”

“It’s… It’s not you.” Pink Pearl said, before looking at the diamond on the ground. “It’s… her.”

“Why didn’t I see that coming?” Steven sighed as he shook his head. “Knowing that there’s no way Connie and company is going to try to let me fix things in my current state, at least tell me what SHE did?”

“My… Eye.” Pink Pearl said, looking frustrated. “The last time I had seen her… before I became White Diamond’s little puppet, she had a temper tantrum. Her power, the shockwave. The years of bearing witness to her unbridled outbursts and temper tantrums. I wanted revenge.”

“Of course you did.” Steven said as he rolled his eyes. “And I’m guessing you grabbed Aquamarine, eyeball, and Navy to help you then?”

“A mistake on my part.” Pink Pearl spoke resentfully. “Those three couldn’t put a simple thought together, even if they had tried. I should have came here on my own.”

“You know, you could have used the fountain to fix that.” Connie spoke, adding some foresight. “And seriously, how are you not poofed?”

“I did try to use the fountain, but when I did, nothing happened.” Pink Pearl replied.

“Oh yeah. I remember you now! You were the Pearl who just floated around the fountain for a week.” Jasper said. “You know, I do have some vine extract that might help.”

“It won’t though.” Pink Pearl said. “This… this crack in my eye. It’s something that goes deeper than what any remedies can do.”

“It’s not a physical crack.” Garnet said, walking right next to Steven and Connie. “It’s emotional damage.”

Steven suddenly had a flashback from when he was younger. One of his stuffed animals had a tear in it. And Garnet had explained that not all wounds could be healed with a simple kiss. Some wounds go deep. She spoke of how gems are corrupted, and how there are emotional cracks that run deep. Pink Pearl may not have been corrupted, but she has been deeply hurt. If the gem was still in his body, he would be feeling stinging pain from anger and frustration. But now, he just felt frustrated and lost.

“Pink has had… issues with her outbursts.” Blue Diamond spoke, looking remorseful.

“’Having issues’ is an understatement, Blue. I was in her presence at a close distance when she had those outbursts. She… never mind.” Pink Pearl spoke before realizing that she had raised her tone towards a Diamond. Blue Diamond as a matter of fact. But instead of looking angry at the blatant talk-back, Blue Diamond slowly nodded.

“Another one of my mistakes…” Blue Diamond spoke softly, looking even more depressed.

“Well, there’s not much either of you can do now. She’s stuck inside her gem for some reason or another.” Connie said.

“For all of the times that she had caused me to inflate in painful ways, she seems to want to take her time coming out now.” Steven said, sounding defeated that he had hoped to see Pink Diamond sooner rather than later. Or at least that was before Amethyst tapped Steven’s shoulder.

“Uh, dude?” Amethyst said, pointing towards the gem, which began to glow brightly and float gently above the ground.

“Oh no… it’s finally happening.” Blue Diamond shivered as she looked on at the floating diamond. “I… I don’t think I can do this. I don’t know what to say. Or do. I… I…”

“I don’t know either. Six thousand years since then… how much do you think she’ll remember?” Yellow asked in a stressed tone.

“Best case scenario, we can start all over or something. Worse case… we just apologize.” White Diamond suggested, sounding scared.

“That’s if she doesn’t scream so loud, she tears this planet apart!” Yellow Diamond spoke loudly as the gem began to hum loudly. Light began to emerge from within, growing outwards slowly until it began to take the silhouetted shape of someone. A tall woman. Her hair was longer than White Diamonds, but her frame was the same. The light dimmed as a pair of feet gently tapped the hard ground. The echoes gently reverberating on the walls. She sat in a crouched position, no longer wearing puffy pantaloons, or a blouse with large shoulders. Instead, her outfit looked almost like how Rainbow Quartz’s did before Steven was born. She elegantly stood up, and gave a deep bow before looking up in fear.

“GAH! I-I mean! MY Diamonds!” Pink Diamond yelped in a surprised and fearful tone. she then stood flat on her feet and gave the Diamond salute. Seeing this, Yellow Diamond was taken aback as Blue looked away in fear. White, on the other hand, looked both surprised, yet also petrified. “My Diamonds? Is… what… May I inquire you about… what happened? Why are you afraid? Where are we?”

White quickly looked over at Yellow and Blue for some form of help to see none could be offered by the two scared diamonds. She even looked over at both Pink Pearl and Pearl, to see that one of them was still too weak, while the other shrugged. She had to do this on her own.

“Pink. My dear little Diamond…” White Diamond tried not to trail off. “Um, I don’t quite know what happened actually. Which is why I’m nervous, but not afraid! Definitely not afraid.”

“I apologize for insinuating that you were, my Diamond!” Pink Diamond spoke, her voice trembling. “Please don’t send me to the tower!”

“No. No, no, no, no, no.” White Diamond spoke emphatically, moving towards Pink Diamond, her eyes slightly filling up with tears. “That place… that awful place. It’s gone now. You did nothing wrong, little starlight.”

Hearing White Diamond say the word ‘Starlight’ caused a slight spike in Steven’s anxiety, enough to induce an involuntary reflex and squeezed Garnet’s hand tightly. Garnet squeezed his hand in return to reassure him that it’s okay.

“But… What happened to me? What is this place?” Pink Diamond asked as she looked around the room, only for her eyes to land on the other gems. Both Pearls gasped slightly, along with Greg. Lapis and Peridot didn’t show much reaction, but instead, showed an odd sense of curiosity towards her. Doug, Priyanka, and Connie had shown some form of hesitant curiosity as well, while Patricia gave a slightly muted ‘ooo’ sound. And finally, her eyes landed on Garnet, Jasper, and Steven. Steven felt Jasper's hands go swiftly as she involuntarily saluted her.

“My Diamond!” Jasper barked before realizing what she had done. “Um… sorry Steven. force of habit.”

“It’s okay.” Steven said as Jasper went back to helping keep Steven steady on his feet.

“Um… hey…” Spinel said, as she was slightly hiding behind Garnet. “I’m here too… I guess. Remember m-”

“Spinel!” Pink Diamond squealed as she took spinel by the hand quickly and pulled her close for a hug. “Oh, my stars! I didn’t think I would see you here too! What’s going on? And I love your outfit. What do you think of mine? And also, again, what’s going on?”

Spinel, bombarded with questions, looked behind at Steven, who was at a loss as to what to say. She then looked behind Pink Diamond to see the Diamonds being as lost as Steven, collectively shrugging and miming different things to say. Spinel, left completely confused and out of options, let out a deep sigh.

“Listen, P.D., I’m going to level with ya: We’re in the place where an ancient civilization created White Diamond and ultimately got p’owned for their hubris. You’re here because you were stuck inside of your son for 16 or 17 years, and was trying to literally bust your way out. So, he, his family and friends came here to talk to White Diamond about how to fix things and save Steven, but ultimately, we had to pull you out. And at the same time, some crazy gems wanted revenge or somethin’, and they tried to kill him and the Diamonds because they’re no longer inherently horrible like how they used to be ages ago, and now it seems you lost almost all of your memory and we have to do the thing where we have to gain your memory back like what we did with your other friends after I went all cray-cray cause you left me stranded on a asteroid for 6 thousand years cause you wanted a colony and there’s probably going to be singing and junk as well, so there’s that.” Spinel spoke before taking another deep breath of air. “And thank you. Your outfit is pretty tight as heck too, girl.”

The collective jaws of every person inside of the catacomb had dropped so hard that the entire galaxy could hear it. Somehow or another, Obsidian, who had been following them the entire time, let out a stifled laugh alongside Patricia. Blue Diamond buried her face in her hands while Yellow massaged her forehead in confusion. White Diamond, who was blushing, could only mouth the words ‘What the hell are you doing?’ while her right eye was twitching.

Pink Diamond, on the other hand looked carefully at Spinel, as though she was trying to figure out a really difficult arithmetic problem she bursted out laughing.

“Oh my, Spinel! That’s the funniest story I’ve ever heard!” Pink Diamond cried out loud as she laughed. “Me being trapped inside of a sun, White Diamond being created by something other than a meteorite striking a dead planet, leaving you all by yourself on an asteroid for six-thousand years? That’s a really crazy story, Spinel!”

“Yeah… really crazy…” Spinel mumbled while straining a smile. “But, yeah, it really does seem like you lost your memory. Could you kind of tell me what the last thing you remember was?”

Spinel’s words fell on deaf ears as Pink Diamond fixated back onto Steven, who had not only begun to feel a little weak, but also disappointed in how Pink Diamond reacted to serious news.

“You…” Pink Diamond spoke softly, as she gently put down Spinel and walked over to Steven. “You… look… ADORABLE!”

Pink Diamond squealed loudly as she picked Steven up and tossed him into the air, causing his muscles and bones to ache.

“Um… could you maybe take it a little ea-” Steven was about to request something to pink Diamond before she saw the other humans, as well as Garnet.

“Oh, this gem looks fascinating!” Pink Diamond said eagerly as she inspected the very nervous Garnet. “Her hands each have a different gem! Incredible. It’s like they’re a fusion of two completely opposite gems. Ooooo, and more of these mushy things!”

Pink Diamond looked over every other human with intense curiosity. Priyanka had decided to take up the charge and try to introduce herself professionally, but only to be ignored as her eyes fell on Amethyst, Peridot, and Lapis. Mostly on Amethyst.

“Aww, this one’s even cute- wait.” Pink stopped gushing for a moment to see Amethysts gem. “A Quartz solder? Aww, this one stayed in the ground a little too long. I still love you!”

“Bruh…” Amethyst said, not believing what she just heard while looking insulted. A moment later, Pink dropped her as she saw Peridot.

“Oh, my stars! Is that…a Peridot? She's so tiny!” Pink gushed as she wrapped her arms around Peridot tightly, while Peridot tried not to scream. Lapis couldn’t help but chuckle at Peridot’s demise while Amethyst looked on in worry. “Oh my gosh, new beings and gems! Are… are they for me? Can I keep them, White? Blue? Yellow? Please!”

The Diamonds looked at one another. This was something that came out of nowhere. Six thousand years without Pink. They had slowly started to move on. But now that she’s here, They’re at a loss. Even more so, Pink is asking if she can have gems and humans as though they were pets. But it seems the only one who was willing to stand up and say something, was the one Diamond who was more afraid than the others.

“Well… Blue. It would be up to them.” Blue Diamond said calmly “A lot has changed while you were gone for so long. Gems aren’t owned by anyone. And those people over there are called humans. They’re kind of like us, but smaller. But they still have heart.”

It slowly dawned on Pink that maybe some of the things Spinel said might have been true. Or at least the part where she was away for a while. as she looked back, she noticed the last two gems she had overlooked initially while Peridot was able to wriggle out of Pink Diamonds arms and scuttled away towards Lapis and Amethyst.

“P-pink… pearl…” Pink muttered as she slowly clasped her hands over her mouth. “Oh… oh no…”

“Pink?” White Diamond spoke as she walked gently closer to Pink Diamond. “Let’s get out of this musty place, and get some fresh air, and talk more about this.” White Diamond said as calmly and as softly as she could.”

“Second on the need for air” Peridot groaned as she sat near the entrance, shaking. “And a lot of space.”


	2. Coming Home

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Steven and the Diamonds showed Pink that Homeworld has changed ever since before Pink got a colony.

The afternoon sun hung above the horizon. The light emitting from it, bouncing off the polished surfaces of the buildings and tubes below, as reflected back in multitudes of color. All of those colors collided with Pink Diamonds eyes.

“So. Things looked like they have changed.” Pink Diamond spoke softly, her legs hanging over the edge of the balcony of the citadel. “All the colors used to be in order. Reds, pinks, blues, whites, yellows. They were all separated. But now…”

“Magnificent, isn’t it?” White said, looking out the balcony with her. “For so long, I kept them all separate. Orderly. But in reality, it was disorganized. It wasn’t meant to be in perfect uniform areas of color. Some of them compliment one another. Others offer contrast. Some evoke thoughts and feelings. Things that I… I’m sorry, Pink.”

“My Diamond?” Pink asked, looking up in worry. “Have I done something… wrong?”

White Diamond wiped a tear from her face.

“We all did, my starlight.” White Diamond spoke. “I am more than others. And if you look on south of here, you might see something familiar.”

Pink Diamond turned her head to the left to see a destroyed tower, covered in vines and flowers.

“Is… Is that?”

“The dreaded tower? Yes.” Blue said remorsefully as she and Yellow joined them.

“Having it around like that, a reminder of the things we had done. We turned it into something different. Humans, as well as the peridot, call it a ‘greenhouse’” Yellow spoke, looking at the broken tower. “It’s a place where we brought plants from other colonies, things that we thought you would have loved, a place to remind us all of the things we had lost, and had taken for granted.”

“The… the colonies. My pearl…” Pink Diamond mumbled as she turned to look at both of her pearls, old and new. “With everything that had changed, does that mean I never got my colony? Does it mean that I can never be a real diamond?”

“Nonsense, Pink!” Blue spoke “Having a colony doesn’t make you a diamond. And honestly, I don’t really know what.”

“None of us do, Blue.” Yellow said. “Honestly, titles like Diamond, Emerald, Ruby, Aquamarine. What are they but just the description of our gems? And who’s to say that alone defines out true selves? Our character? Our essence? Only you can define you, Pink.”

“Um… speaking of!” Steven yelled, as he was being carried around by Jasper. “What are we going to do about, um, those three?”

Steven pointed to the two Rubies and an Aquamarine. Eyeball was placed upside down on her head, trying to furiously get back on her feet, while Navy was swinging around by one of Aquamarine's legs as she fluttered about in a circle up in the air, screaming ‘higher, higher’. The diamonds collectively winced at the sight of them.

“Um… baristas at a Novabricks?” White Diamond asked, as Blue and Yellow nodded in agreement.

“And me?” Pink pearl asked bluntly. Pink Diamond looked at her sympathetically.

“I never deserved you in the first place, Pink Pearl.” Pink Diamond spoke remorsefully. “I never deserved a colony either with the way I had acted.”

“Um… actually Ro- I mean Pink Diamond.” Pearl hesitantly began to speak. “You… you actually did get a colony.”

“Wait… I what?!” Pink Diamond gasped loudly.

The Diamond mecha-ship stood on top of the moon as it orbited Earth. Gazing at the monitor, Pink Diamond couldn’t help but be in a trance at the sight of the blue marble on the screen. The gems stood off to one side of the room talking to themselves while looking over at Pink Diamond every so often. At the same time, Steven, Jasper, the humans, and Blue Diamond sat on the other end.

“This… I… I can’t believe it.” Patricia spoke in disbelief yet excited tone. “I’m… I’m on a ship. In space. On a spaceship!”

“Yeah… that’s kind of the definition of a spaceship, kiddo.” Greg smirked. “I think this is the second, maybe third time, I’ve flown around in one.”

“Second, I think.” Steven said. “Once to the human zoo, and once back.”

“Ah… The Zoo…” Blue Diamond spoke, looking uncomfortable. “If only I knew then what I knew now. To think, the first encounter I had with a human in a long time was the very same one who stole her heart. The planet isn’t as big as it would seem, in a way. I’m… sorry, again, Greg.”

“Pssh! It’s okay. I was overdue for a vacation anyway.” Greg replied, gently waving his hand in the air.

“You’re telling me. A Human Zoo?” Doug said inquisitively. “What’s that about?”

“Well… A long while ago, when Pink got her colony, she was so worried about the humans who lived there. The earth was being used up for all of its resources, at the time. She didn’t want any harm to come onto them.” Blue Diamond replied. “We… couldn’t safe all of humanity, so we built a place for them to live. A habitat. A perfect environment where they could just lounge around in the waterfalls, socialize, eat. We even had an excellent medical and breeding program that allowed us to keep the human population stable and happy for thousands of years.”

Priyanka nearly choked on the water she was drinking from a canteen.

“A ‘breeding program’?” Priyanka asked in a shocked tone. “Like… matchmaking and… of jeez”

“Well… we did want to keep them alive as long as, for the lack of a better word, humanly possible.” Blue Diamond said, sounding uncomfortable. “Pink loved humans. Their culture, their cities, their technology, their art. It always fascinated her.”

“Technology?” Patricia asked, looking somewhat disturbed. “Like… when… when you guys got to Earth, were humans… advanced?”

“Um… It’s been a while…” Blue Diamond replied, feigning ignorance.

“Honestly, about as advanced as you are now.” Jasper said bluntly. “But at the same time, it was wrought with chaos. Pollution, corruption, 3 different kinds of pandemics raging at any given moment. I hate to tell you this, but it was almost as if humanity was already out of the door by the time the first colony ships landed.”

“Ooof.” Connie groaned as she shook her head and Steven wrapped a weakening arm around her.

“Yeah. Ooof indeed.” Jasper said, relating to the same feeling everyone else had. “Even when they spotted us, everyone just wigged out. Launching large explosions at one another, rioting, wars. It was a surprise that any of the humans survived. Basically, by the time the gem rebellion happened, humanity kind of learned to keep low. But Pink, she wanted to not only save humanity, but the culture and the arts as well.”

“But, wait, if humanity was completely decimated and thrown back to the stone ages, how were we able to come back from all of that within the span of 6000 years?” Patricia asked.

“We might have had a hand in all of that.” Pearl spoke as she, Amethyst, Garnet, and the other gems sat with the humans.

“Looking at ancient human history, we kind of decided to help humanity skip the worst parts the second time around.” Garnet added. “Most of ancient human history was either war, or some form of natural disaster.”

“Reduce it down to the basics, and you get 30,000 years in the span of six.” Amethyst spoke.

“So… you’re the ones I have to blame for trigonometry?” Patricia asked.

“Oh stars, no!” Pearl exclaimed. “We tried to teach an easier way of doing things, but some people would rather do things the hard way.”

“So, what did you do then?” Patricia asked with curiosity in her eyes.

“Well, everything but the ‘caramel dance’ thing, 9/10ths of the internet, pineapple on pizza, and the flat earth theory.” Pearl replied. Patricia stared blankly at Pearl, questioning everything that had known about humanity.

“Speaking of doing things, how are we going to… you know…” Amethyst spoke, gesturing towards Pink Diamond and Pink Pearl. “How are you going to fix that, Steven?”

“Not me. at least not alone.” Steven said, looking down at his feet. “We’re going to have to gently walk her through some of they parts of her life.”

“All of the key parts?” Blue Diamond asked, sounding worried.

“Well, hopefully not. I know trying to get Garnet’s memory back was a bit tricky, but maybe… we could get her back to normal without the fighting.” Steven said, looking back up at Blue Diamond. “This could be your chance to maybe… patch things up with her?”

“I hope so, Steven.” Blue Diamond spoke. “My time on earth, I saw the beauty that Pink saw ages ago. I saw why she rebelled against us. Maybe… she won’t have to rebel this time? We could just respect and love her for what she did. But would that really bring her back?”

“Honestly, Blue, her rebelling against you and becoming Rose Quartz was a big thing.” Pink Spoke pensively. ”If we were to bring her back, get her memories back, then a fight might have to breakout…”

“No.” Steven said bluntly. “There won’t have to be a fight. I think we can do this peacefully. I mean, we already showed her that Homeworld changed for the better, and it didn’t really break her brain. I think.”

Blue and Pearl shrugged a little apprehensive.

“I really believe we can fix things. I might not have my gem, but I’m asking you to trust me on this.” Steven pleaded emphatically. “Let’s land in front of the old Diamond cavern. Swing by the house, show Pink around Beach city, maybe Little Homeworld. Then we’ll meet up at the Prime kindergarten. Show her the contrast of life on Earth, and what the colonization would have done to it.”

“That sounds like a sound idea.” Garnet spoke, smiling at Steven.

“I agree. Plus, you need to get an extra pair of sandals. I’m not comfortable having you walk around Beach City barefoot.” Priyanka said. “Plus, maybe, I should get you a wheelchair in case you begin to feel weak.”

“No need, Ma’am.” Jasper said. “I can carry him around if need be. But how’s the water working out for you, Steven?”

“Well… It’s working okay for now.” Steven replied. “Maybe I need a pink vial when we land. That should keep me going for a few hours at least. And maybe take things slow, too? I don’t think I can move as fast as I used to.”

“We can do that. Just take it easy, Steven.” Doug spoke as the Diamond ship made its way through the earth’s atmosphere.


	3. Memory Lane.

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Steven and the Crystal Gems show Pink Diamond all the Earth has to offer.

Landing on the outside of the cavern, both Pearl and Pink Pearl went ahead and decided to give Pink Diamond a tour of the inside, along with Blue and Yellow Diamond tagging along. The humans, and the crystal gems decided to head back to the house to rest up a bit before going out again, while Jasper and Spinel went off to get more rose water for Steven, since it seems to be the one thing that’s keeping him going. Steven, on the other hand, hung back for a moment.

“So… What are we really doing here, exactly?” White Diamond whispered quietly as she held Steven in her hand, an unusual feeling for Steven.

“Well, just like how the gems lost their memory to the rejuvenating scythe, Pink Diamond seems to have lost most of hers as well.” Steven responded, choosing his words carefully. “For them though, I had to walk them through all the things they had been through. All of the trials, hardships, moments. That kind of stuff.”

“Wait. Are you saying we’re going to have to go to war all over again?” White Diamond gasped. “Nope. Can’t do that. I’ll just poof Pink Diamond and just wedge her back in there again, I guess?”

“I don’t think that’s how it works. Plus, I don’t think we’ll be needing to start any wars.” Steven suggested. “We just kind of have to tell the story about everything that had happened. Remind her of who she was, and what she fought for. And maybe… it might give everyone the chance to reconcile things.”

“But what about you, Steven?” Pink Diamond asked, looking worried. “If what Yellow had told me was true, then…”

“Then we don’t have much time.” Steven replied. “Once I remind her of who she was, and maybe remind her of who she became, then… I’ll cross that bridge when I get to it. Not going to lie, a lot of this is kind of shaky and on the fly. But just promise me that… if anything were to happen to me, and she doesn’t fuse with me again or something, just… respect her wishes. Even if she just wants to be Rose Quartz for-”

“No, Steven!” White Diamond snapped as quietly as possible as to not draw any attention. “Steven, you helped change an entire civilization for the better. You changed me! I’m not going to let you fade away. Just like how you saw something in me, someone capable of changing, I see that in you too. You’ve been helping people, humans and gems alike. It’s time that I help you. I’ll do everything in my power to keep you from burning out. I swear on all the colonies I once held firm to. I hold firm to that promise.”

“W-wow. White… That- I- I’ll do everything I can, too.” Steven said, wiping a tear from his eye from White Diamonds moving declaration. “After they show Pink Diamond around inside there, I’m going to need you to gather any Earth gems on Homeworld, and bring them to the Prime kindergarten. Meet me there as soon as you can.”

White Diamond nodded as she gently placed Steven back on solid ground, where one of the Amethysts was there to meet up with him to help him back to the house. As Steven walked away, he looked back as White Diamond was nearly about to enter the cave, but not before watching and making sure Steven and the Amethyst made it across the walkway. She gave a faint smile, and walked inside.

On the sand, Steven struggled walking on the hot ground, prompting Amethyst to carry him back to the house, but also giving her a chance to talk to him.

“So… Um… Steven? Is it true?” The Amethyst asked as she carried him towards the house “Is… ‘She’ back?”

Steven lifted up his shirt to reveal the small scar where his gem used to be, causing the Amethyst to slightly groan.

“It’s going to be okay though. She already saw what had happened to Homeworld, and how things were different there. Once she gets a tour of Beach City, and Little Homeworld, then she might remember the war, and also the peace that came after.”

“And the corruption?” The Amethyst asked, causing Steven’s eyes to widen up. “Cause if the stories are true, then I don’t want to be anywhere near her when she goes nuts and tries to eat everyone’s gems and all.”

“Okay, that might not happen. But if all else fails, there’s the fountain.” Steven said, as he started to feel unsure about the plan.

“You mean, use the healing water there to help her get her memories back?” The Amethyst asked.

“Well… Something like that.” Steven replied.

Much of the day was spent mildly sightseeing Beach City, which for all of it’s charm had it’s drawbacks. For a start, Rose Quartz was already a tall person. Easily 10 feet tall, and not counting the hair. This made going into shops and stores a bit of a challenge. So, eventually, they settled on going to the boardwalk, which wasn’t as challenging as it was going inside of Fish Stew Pizza, but still had the drawback of a couple of seagulls trying to eat Pink Diamonds hair. But if she was like any other Diamond, this would have infuriated her. Instead, she decided to playfully dance with them. If it was on an open beach, this would not be a problem. But since it was on a Friday afternoon, in the middle of summer, at an amusement park. All anyone can truly say was that mistakes had been made.

All Mr. Smiley could say were the words ‘banned for life’. But since Diamond’s have almost infinitely long lifespans, it would mostly apply to Mr. Smiley’s life, and not Pink Diamond’s.

Parks and gardens seem to be the only safe place for Steven, Greg, Pink Diamond, the Pearls, and Amethyst. Garnet, sadly, chose not to go, siting personal opinions. Steven, for the most part, would have protested, and insisted on Garnet to join them. Instead, Steven had a plan for her, and it relied on her being at Roses fountain. It was a last-ditch effort on Steven’s part, which with how things are going, seems to be a large possibility of happening. Especially once they started making their way to Little Homeworld.

“This day has been exciting!” Pink diamond said, smiling brightly. “There were those bird things that wanted to give me kisses. The funny little man singing loudly about oil fires and being something called ‘banned for life’. Humans really are interesting people.”

Both Pearls and Amethyst shrugged at Steven, who were all feeling less than confident as to how things were going. Steven, who was being carried by Jasper, sadly couldn’t agree more.

“Well… Maybe we should check on how gems live on Earth?” Steven asked before taking another sip of water from the fountain. “Gems have really made themselves at home. You already saw how they get along back in Beach City. Where they live is really cool as well.”

“Wait. Live? You mean like how humans live?” Pink Diamond asked. “Don’t they take orders from the Diamonds?”

“Nope. In Little Homeworld, gems kind of do their own thing.” Steven replied.

“…Do their own thing…” Pink Diamond muttered to themselves. “I wonder what that feels like.”

“Well, you’re doing it now, aren’t you?” Amethyst asked. “You’re hanging out with us, having fun, checking things out. That is what you want to do, right?”

“I… thought the Diamonds ordered you to show me around, and I had to follow along.” Pink Diamond replied innocently. “Are you… saying I could do whatever I want?”

“As long as you don’t start any more fires, Rose.” Greg said, before quickly correcting himself. “I mean, Pink Diamond.”

“Hmm… rose…” Pink became lost in thought at the sound of the word ‘rose’.

“You know… you should try to shapeshift.” Amethyst stated passively as she strode along. This ultimately stopped Pink Diamond in her tracks, and caught Amethyst off her guard. “Or don’t! You don’t have to shapeshift.”

Amethyst turned to look at Pink Diamond, who looked excited.

“I always wanted to try to shapeshift! I tried that once, but Yellow… caught me…” Pink Diamond’s face vanished and was replaced with hesitative reluctance. “I was in the tower for a while. all because I wanted to look like White Diamond…”

“Well… I don’t see any other diamonds around.” Steven said slyly.

“Oh! I know of one! How bout change into a quartz gem?” Amethyst asked, sounding excited, causing both of the Pearls to look worryingly at one another.

“A quartz gem?” Pink Diamond mulled at the idea. “You know… That… that sounds like a great idea!”

Amethyst winked at Steven, who for the first time, began to smile widely.

“Hey, Pink! Try this on for size, girl!” Amethyst asked before turning into Jasper. Looking up at her, Steven could see Jasper blushing brightly.

“You’re on, ‘girl’!” Pink cheered before shapeshifting effortlessly into Jasper. Steven could feel her legs buckling a bit. “How do I look, everyone?”

The Pearls hung onto one another to keep themselves from fainting. Even when she spoke in a deep voice, it nearly sounded dead on to just like how Jasper sounded.

“Oh, that’s awesome, Pink!” Amethyst cheered. “Do Greg! Do Greg!”

Steven and Jaspers attention shifted to Greg, who looked very nervous, and with good reason. Without a second thought, Pink Diamond did pull off a seamlessly flawless Greg.

“Oh wow! You’re really short!” Pink Diamond said, looking at Greg, who began to feel very uncomfortable. “Oh. Um. Are you okay, Greg? Should I stop?”

“No. No. It’s okay.” Greg pleaded. “It’s just a little overwhelming… but… if you don’t mind me asking, Do you know what a Rose Quartz looks like?”

“A Rose Quartz? Hmm.” Pink spoke before subconsciously shapeshifting into a Rose Quartz in a basic quartz uniform. “Wow… I didn’t think I had to try…”

Everyone around her looked on in awe. Even Steven can sense Jasper slightly squeezing Steven.

“Wow…” Greg muttered, wiping a tear from his eye.

“Oh no. Did I do something wrong? I should change back. I’m so-” Pink attempted to apologize before Greg grabbed her hands.

“Don’t apologize, Rose!” Greg pleaded, accidentally letting slip the word rose again. “I mean, don’t apologize, Pink Diamond.”

“Um… Pearls… why does he keep calling me ‘Rose’?” Pink diamond asked.

“Well. You see, we kind of knew a Rose a long time ago.” Pearl spoke cautiously. “And… well, you really do sound and look like her. Like, A LOT”

“I’m… sorry, Pink Diamond. I’ll try to stop doing that.” Greg said, nearly pulling his hands away before Pink Diamond grabbed them.

“Don’t. It’s okay.” Pink Diamond spoke softly. “Actually. If you guys can keep a secret, do you think that maybe, for the rest of the day, you could just… call me ‘Rose’? I don’t know why, but being called ‘Rose’, and kind of looking like this, it just… feel’s right, you know?”

“Hey Rose?” Amethyst asked, grabbing Pink Diamond’s attention. “That’s what we, on Earth, call ‘doing our own thing’.”

At that moment, Rose Quartz smiled brightly as she spun around into the air and landed gently on the ground.

“Thank you so much!” Rose said, looking ecstatic. “Come on, let’s go check out Little Homeworld!”

And so, they continued the trek towards Little Homeworld, with everyone being more confident than they were before about the plan. At least before they got to Little Homeworld. Normally, the small town would be brimming with life. It didn’t matter what time it was, or what day of the week it was. It always seemed to be teaming with life. Today, right now, it was deathly quiet. Windows were shut, doors were closed and locked. No one was around. Not even the chimney from Bismuth's shop was showing any signs of life. Out of everyone in Little Homeworld, Steven knew she had to know what’s going on.

“Bismuth! You there?!” Steven called out to her as Amethyst knocked on the door for him. “Hello?”

For a moment, Steven saw the blinds shifted. Suddenly, the door opened a jar, showing Bismuth's eye and a few strands of her dreadlocks.

“Steven? Hold on.” Bismuth said before closing the door, unhooking a chain, and opening it. As she did, she saw Steven, the Crystal Gems, Jasper, Pink Pearl, Greg, and to her utter shock, Rose Quartz. She didn’t say anything.

“Um, can we come in?” Steven asked the slightly terrified Bismuth, who could only squeak and nod.

After filing in, they stood around the room, which only had a couple of chairs, in which Steven and Greg had taken, leaving one left for Bismuth, who after locking the door walked over to and sat down.

“Is… Is she okay?” Rose Quartz asked nervously. “Should I change back? Is this, not right?”

“What?! No, wait I’m-” Bismuth tried to snap out of it and speak before Rose Quartz suddenly began to shapeshift back into Pink Diamond, causing sharp objects to start swinging around, and falling to the ground due to her large, original size. “Wait! Calm down! It’s okay!”

After a few seconds, objects stopped falling all around Pink Diamond, who looked terrified and was unable to move. Steven, with what strength he could muster, slowly walked over to Pink Diamond after taking a long drink from a jug of rose water that was in the duffle bag Jasper had been carrying around with her. He placed a hand on Pink Diamonds, who’s size seems to dwarf Stevens ten-fold, and gently held it.

“It’s okay. Bismuth is an old friend of yours.” Steven said reassuringly. “She was just really surprised to see you is all.”

“Wait, really?! I had other friends apart from Spinel and my Pearls?!” Rose said, sounding shocked as she reverted back to her Rose form, and looked over at a shocked Bismuth. “Is that true, Bismuth?!”

“Um… Yeah. You had a lot of friends a long time ago.” Bismuth replied cautiously, trying to figure out how to properly talk to Rose. “Um… what’s the last thing you remember?”

“Well, I remember walking in here, freaking you out, and having sharp dangerous things swinging around while worried that my being Rose Quartz scared you.” Rose Quartz replied with a slight smile. “I mean, it did just happen.”

Most of the people had gone silent, save for two people; Steven and Bismuth, who were trying, and failing, to not laugh. They had eventually bursted out laughing, allowing others to share in the chuckle.

“No… no, I mean… before… all of this?” Bismuth tried to ask again, trying to be more clear, only to have Rose sigh.

“I honestly don’t remember. I just know that this feels… right. This form.” Rose said, looking down at herself. “And also, being called ‘Rose’. I actually like being called that than instead of ‘my diamond’, or ‘pink diamond’. It just feels right, you know?”

“I can understand what you mean.” Bismuth replied, now speaking more freely. “It would be like having to wear an uncomfortable piece of armor most of your life. You’re constantly told that it’s made for you, even though you know that it doesn’t feel right. You just need something that you’re comfortable wearing and being in. something that tells people who you really are. You know what I me- Um. Rose?”

Rose’s eyes were fixated in fear on one of the swords that had been hanging above her head before she knocked it down to the ground in front of her. It only took a split second for Steven to see why she was so scared: It was the same model sword she once had ages ago.

“Um, Rose? Are you… okay?” Steven asked, looking at the sword as well.

“That sword. It looks familiar. But why?” Rose said as she reached out to grab the handle, only to flinch away for a moment in hesitation, and then returned again. Grasping it firmly as she pulled it out. All the gems looked on in fear, as Rose stared intensely at the sword. “The… the rebellion…”

“Yeah… The rebellion…” Pearl spoke, walking over to Rose. “Rose… what do you remember?”

“There was a rebellion… but why?” Rose asked, looking at Pearl and Garnet. “What happened?”

“I think we should show her.” Steven said, holding onto Roses hand tightly.


	4. Memento

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Rose returns to the kindergarten where she decided to stand her ground once more, ultimately being one step closer to going back to normal.

As agreed with everyone there, Bismuth, Steven and the Crystal Gems had decided to return to the Prime Kindergarten with Rose. This time though, Greg decided to stay behind, feeling as though he needed to rest. But now, Connie, Patricia and Priyanka had decided to join them. And to give Jasper’s arm a break, Priyanka had decided to bring a wheelchair for Steven to sit in. The water Steven had been steadily drinking was keeping him stable, according to Priyanka, but she wasn’t sure how long it would sustain him. Her worries had carried over with her to the Prime Kindergarten as the group had beamed down onto. The pad had been sitting on a ledge within the heart of the Kindergarten, a place that was dark and desolate. The ancient injectors still sat on the walls, slowly crumbling away as time took its toll. Beyond the ledge, a small gathering of Amethysts and Rose Quartzes gathered in a small group in the heart of the kindergarten, talking among themselves before they noticed the group. With them stood the Diamonds, knelt down and speaking to a few of them casually. The Diamonds had once kept themselves separate from other gems. But seeing this, Steven had felt a warm glow in his heart at the sight of it. It showed him that progress had been made. To Rose, who immediately shapeshifted back into Pink Diamond at the sight of the other Diamonds, she didn’t see it. All she saw was fear.

“The- the Diamonds?” Rose Quartz trembled. “What are they doing here? Why are they here?!”

“I told them to meet me here.” Steven said, reaching up to try to hold Roses hand, but in her original form, she was too tall to reach. “Pi- Rose. There’s something we need to show you.”

“What?” Rose asked, looking down at Steven, before Pearl took her other hand.

“The reason why you began the rebellion.” Pear said, looking up at her, holding her hand as tightly as she had done so many years ago.

As they made their way down from the ledge by way of a prebuilt ramp made a few years ago for smaller gems to walk up and down from, the Crystal Gems and the four humans walked with her to the edge of the kindergarten. And behind them, the cured gems, and the Diamonds gently followed suit. Slowly, they made their way to the opening. The sun was setting over the plentiful grasslands. Flower patches danced slowly in the wind of the August air. It was a late summer afternoon, and all was golden. Rose's eyes glimmered at the sight of it all. She soaked in the beauty of all that she could see of the Earth in front of her. Her faint smile grew for a moment as she walked outwards onto the grass. As she looked down, she noticed her proportionally small feet, still wearing shoes. Rose breathed deeply before shifting into Rose Quartz, wearing the same kind of dress she wore ages ago. Pearl led her out onto the grass, smiling up at her. Rose abridged and followed her outwards as Steven, the humans, Jasper, Amethyst and Garnet looked on at how happy Rose was. Spinning and slightly dancing in the breeze and tall cool grass.

“So… That’s my mom. Huh.” Steven spoke softly, a tear dropping from his cheek.

“Yeah. That’s her, Steven.” Garnet replied, resting a gentle hand on his shoulder. Joining Steven, Pink Pearl and Spinel looked on, their eyes had grown misty.

“I remember when I made her laugh like that. Once.” Spinel spoke, trying to keep her voice steady.

“I remember the same as well, Spinel.” Pink Pearl said, an arm wrapped around Spinel.

“She’s pretty forgetful, but now… we can have a chance to talk to her. She’s slowly remembering things.” Priyanka spoke carefully. “Just… try not to be too harsh. For as long as I had known her, she was somewhat… childish?”

“Yeah. She was. But not forever.” Garnet spoke, while other gems and the Diamonds looked on. For the moment, Rose was mostly oblivious to everything before she stopped in her tracks. Fireflies still dancing about, she looked back at the kindergarten. The look of joy had faded to disbelief and fear. “Oh boy…”

Rose walked back towards the entrance, not knowing that she was still in her other form. She looked down at the ground the moment her feet had gone from grass to dead earth. She was shocked to see the contrast of the border between the kindergarten, and the outside world, but even more so when she saw her dress and her bare feet. She was still Rose Quartz, and in the presence of the Diamonds. She quickly shifted back to Pink Diamond, ran to the other Diamonds and knelt to the ashen ground.

“MY DIAMONDS I’M SORRY FOR MY INAPPROPRIATE ACTIONS!” Rose Quartz declared loudly. “PLEASE DO NOT LOCK MY AWAY IN THE TOWER!”

The words shocked the Diamonds, causing them to look on in grief and pain.

“Rose!” Pearl shouted out to her as she ran up. “Rose! It’s okay!”

“NO, IT’S NOT!” Rose shouted loudly as the ground shook, causing a small crater around her. “I… I disobeyed… I… the Earth…”

Rose Quartz looked at the ground around her, as well as the crater she made. Her attention went back towards those in front of her, who looked on in fear.

“Rose…” Blue Diamond spoke softly, attempting to walk towards her before Rose spoke again.

“How do you know that name?!” Rose Quartz asked loudly. “How…”

“Rose…” Pearl gently spoke. “This… the ground. The soil. The earth. What do you remember?”

Rose quartz closed her eyes as she touched the ground for a moment. Then all of the sudden, she had flinched. Her own gem had glowed brightly as she flinched.

“Starlight!” White Diamond called out to her. “Pink! Rose!”

The glow faded away slowly before looking up at the Diamonds with a scowl.

“I… I don’t want to hurt the Earth anymore. I want to leave it be. What we’re doing here. It’s wrong!” Rose called out to the Diamonds, who had begun to look nervously at Steven, who could only look back at them without anything to say. It was up to them now to set things right.

“It was wrong, Pink!” Yellow Diamond confessed. “It was wrong here, as it was in all of the colonies.”

“Rose. The rebellion. The thing you remembered back at my shop. That was what the rebellion was about.” Bismuth spoke. “Back then, the Diamonds didn’t understand what was wrong. You did make your case, but when things fell through… you created an alter ego. You created Rose Quartz.”

“I… I what?!” Rose asked as she slowly formed back into Rose Quartz.

“P- Rose. Back then… we didn’t listen. None of us did.” White Diamond said calmly. “You saw something here you wanted to fight for. Even enough for you to fake your own shattering.”

“The rebellion was won. You had protected earth.” Jasper spoke, brushing aside a part of her hair to show discoloration in her skin, causing Rose to slightly move back in fear. “But it came at a cost.”

Roses attention was slowly drawn back to the other cured gems. She began to notice the discoloration of their skin. The horns. The things that she knew didn’t seem right at first, but now caused her to look at the Diamonds in anger.

“What was the cost?” Rose asked through gritted teeth.

“Blind anger, grief, and a long-standing mistake.” White Diamond replied shamefully. “We unleashed the corruption light on earth.”

“We… initially thought we destroyed all life on Earth. But instead, it corrupted the gems.” Yellow Diamond added, sounding full of regret.

“Nearly all of them. But you, Pearl, and Garnet were all the ones who survived.” Blue Diamond said.

“I… Kind of stayed in the ground a little longer than everyone else. but for six-thousand years, we spent all of our time bubbling the corrupted gems, and protecting humanity.” Amethyst spoke.

“But… how were they cured? Why… why didn’t you just come back and finish the job?!” Rose Quartz asked angrily to the Diamonds, who seemed to have been resigned to their fate of whatever came their way.

“I’ll show you.” Jasper replied.

Moments later, Steven, Rose, the Crystal Gems, Pink Pearl and Spinel stood in the middle of the fountain, staring at the slightly repaired sculpture of the personas of Pink Diamond and Rose Quartz. Along with them were the Diamonds, who were sitting on one side of the fountain, their feet in the water, causing it to change color while Jasper refilled the jugs. As Rose looked on at the Statue in the moonlight, she didn’t say a word. The Diamonds looked on in bated breath, worried about what to say, when they had to say anything at all.

“And that’s all that happened.” Pearl finished speaking, telling Rose everything that had happened in the past 5,500 years after the rebellion. “You kicked off the rebellion after meeting Ruby and Sapphire's fusion, Garnet. The corruption hit, and I… kept your promise ever since. I never told a soul about your identity… But I couldn’t have kept it a secret from Steven.”

“So… I rebelled against myself?” Rose asked, looking back down at Pearl.

“You rebelled against a system that was broken.” White Diamond said with a sigh. “We were imperfect. We caused more harm than good.”

“Let’s not forget me being White Diamonds puppet.” Pink Pearl said bluntly, after splashing her face with the fountain water. The crack over her eye only barely healed.

“And me being stuck on an asteroid for over six thousand years too.” Spinel spoke, also blunt and to the point. Rose looked at the two of them, tears welling in her eyes.

“Pearl… Spinel…” Rose murmured softly. “I’m… I’m so sorry. I’m sorry for everything I’ve done to you both.”

Pink Pearl sighed deeply. Spinel slightly shrugged.

“I… I know you didn’t have a cap on your emotions back then.” Pink Pearl said. “But after hearing everything… I just wish I could have been there to be a part of your change.”

“And I’m sorry that I never truly healed you, Pink Pearl.” White Diamond spoke. “I… I didn’t know how. The only thing I could do was try to control you to keep you from-”

“Breaking apart?” Pink Pearl finished her sentence without skipping a beat, and without fear of reprisals. “I… know you had your reasons.”

“At least you’re here now… right?” Steven asked before taking a sip from the jug that Jasper handed to Steven, as he sloshed his feet around in the fountain, thinking he was adding his essence into the fountain, for which he could not.

“Yeah… And you know how I feel, right Rose?” Pink Pearl asked.

“I’m… I’m sorry.” Rose apologized as Pink Pearl had gone in to hug her.

“It’s… going to take a while to forgive. But I know you’re coming from a good place now.” Pink Pearl replied.

“And Spinel.” Rose sniffled. “I… shouldn’t have le-”

“Nope!” Spinel interrupted, causing Rose to look on in shock. “Listen… I wasn’t the best of friends.”

“What?” Rose asked, sounding shocked.

“You wanted to have a colony.” Spinel said semi-casually. “And you could have brought me along, but… I get that I was a bit overbearing. And immature. I would have only gotten in the way of things. I get tha-”

“But it was wrong all the same though!” Rose interrupted, causing Spinel to look on in shock at the silently crying Rose.

“But I made it kind of easy for you to do it through… You were, as humans say, growing up.” Spinel said, tucking her hands in her hoody. “You didn’t need me around. And it wasn’t like you could have gone to get me. The warp pads were all smashed up.”

“But still… I should have tried.” Rose reasoned. “Even if I was rebelling, I should have at least freed you from that place. Let you go wherever you want.”

“Well… I did leave… eventually.” Spinel said before walking over to Rose to give her a hug. “And it’s not like I tried to destroy the Earth and kill everyone including Steven, you know. Nope. Not good ol’ Spinel!”

“You tried to kill everyone and destroy the Earth, didn’t you?” Rose asked flatly.

“Tried… and failed. That part is important… and I’ve been on Earth. Trying to set things right.” Spinel said, beginning to sound embarrassed. “I… wasn’t on vacation on Earth. And the Earth didn’t get hit with a vicious Earthquake. I was angry at being abandoned. If it weren’t for your son, And the gem you gave him, Rose, i… probably would have done something worse than what the Diamonds tried to do.”

“Wait… my son?” Rose spoke, slowly hovering her hand over her gem, slowly remembering something deep in the past.

“Yeah… Steven. You son?” Spinel spoke, looking confused before realizing Pearl never got to that part.

“Rose… Steven… You wanted to know what it was like to be human. Or just be a part of humanity. So… you and Greg… the other human.” Pearl attempted to speak, but words were lost to her. But not to Rose, who’s eyes pierced through the moonlight at Steven. she gently walked over to Steven, and knelt down, and look at Steven closely. She touched his shoulder, his hands, and his currently tear streaked cheek.

“Steven… My… Son?” Rose asked, as tears began to pour from both of their eyes.

“Yeah… Mom. I’m your son.” Steven said, tears raining down as Rose went in to hug her son.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Well... It's been 2 years since i've started writing fanfic for this show. For the most part, i loved it. I got to know some cool artists, fellow writers, and good friends. there were times where i was stressed out to the point of burning out. And i burned out alot. Writing kept me sane, but at the same time, it made me want more approval, or validation of me being a writer. or just knowing i'm making a difference with one of my very few talents. But now, not too many readers. Most people i knew who used to read my stuff aren't around anymore. Even those who really liked my stories have vanished from the face of the earth. loosing those friends hurt the most. I got a wake-up call by someone in a discord server back in April who's name i won't divulge. Just know that it opened my eyes to things; Bad Grammar, poor spelling. nothing making sense, everything being confusing. I just kind of came to terms that i suck. The things that were said nearly drove me to a place i didn't want to go back to. So, eventually, i ended up writing 9 or so stories in the span of 2 months because i have gone completely insane. and one of the main driving force was the pandemic. I lost friends to this, and i was afraid of loosing more. Of letting people down. At this point, i'm all out of steam. This isn't the end... but i might not be writing for a while. There are two more stories after this, but for now... i kind of want to sleep.
> 
> Next Time: Steven and his mom are united, but separate entities. This is a chance for Steven to be with his mom, but how long will he last without a gem? How long will that water tie him over? "Mothering".
> 
> Let me know if you want the rest of the story. if not... then... yeah. It might be because of social distancing. It might be because of being ghosted left and right. I'm just... not feeling confident in all of this. and since asking people if i'm wasting my time seems to be a bit on the nose, i'm not sure what to do anymore.

**Author's Note:**

> whew... okay. So... She's back, and remembers absolutely nothing. But at the same time, decent first impression. But, yeah, we're doing this all over again.


End file.
